It became a project which Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister Josef Goebbels would become obsessed with to the extent that it would cost the life of the man he had hired to make it happen. It is the film based on the sinking of the ill-fated cruise liner the Titanic, but not as how history remembered what had happened.
But before making any judgments, it is worthwhile remembering the circumstances which led to Goebbels giving the seal of approval to the making of the film which was supposed to act as a propaganda film to stir up the anti-British sentiment among ordinary Germans, at a time after Hitler had invaded Britain in 1941. According to the documentary, it is one of the untold stories from Nazi Germany which has only come to light in recent times. German state archives have only uncovered in recent times of the extent Goebbels wanted the Nazi version of the film to rival Hollywood in terms of spectacle, and what goes into the mind of the original director who was tasked to film it in Herbert Selpin, already a well-known film director in his time who had already especially produced two propaganda films before and also a Nazi party member, as according to the personal diaries of the film's art director Fritz Maurischat.
The documentary showed the other side of Goebbels history did not often talk about, as a man who was truly a fan of film and actually appreciate it as an aesthetic form of art. It also pointed out how Goebbels has always being remembered in history as the control freak, a megalomaniac, but he is one man history has found it hard to pin down. Goebbels's personal diaries revealed the man who has a deep hatred of the Jews and the hatred was sealed after watching various Hollywood films which he was actually a big fan of even if he could not speak English, and prior to his seal of approval for the Titanic film as propaganda minister, he had already made two pictures himself - a documentary and a film. It was to be the film which did well at the box office, which convinced Goebbels and his boss and a fellow film buff Hitler that the way to transmit the messages to the public was through films, as entertainment but with hidden messages of Nazi propaganda. It came at a time when Germany used to have a thriving film industry before Hollywood took over as the leader, with the rise of Hollywood coming at a time where Hitler and the Nazis came to power, with many of the talent heading to the United States.
It would be a screenwriter who brought forward the idea to the propaganda ministry. The entire dialogue would be in German, as footages from the film in the documentary itself showed what language the cast were speaking, which also included the German actor who played the actual chairman of the White Star Line which owned the Titanic, J. Bruce Ismay. It was precisely the actual story of the Titanic and how it met its end on its maiden voyage which saw Goebbels wanted the film to be a portrayal of everything that is wrong about Nazi Germany's enemy at that time in Britain – capitalism. Selpin would be roped in to direct the film, but the famed film director wanted a re-write of the film and brought on board his long-time collaborator and screenwriter friend Walter Zerlett-Olfenius. Unbeknownst to Selpin, his friend would play a part in the director's personal downfall which almost mirrored how the film production went when it climaxed to the shooting of the sinking scene.
But as time went by in the filming which Selpin was given huge amounts of budget which would look incredible in the modern context even by Hollywood standards, the outside world was beginning to turn against Nazi Germany in World War II. Unfortunately for Hitler, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also knew a thing or two on using propaganda to drum up support among Britons. Then the Americans got involved in the war in 1942, with the might of Hollywood behind it. The documentary cited how the now-classic film 'Casablanca' was actually a propaganda film in its day to stir up anti-German sentiments.
It is quite a fascinating documentary, as it charted how Goebbels was so obsessed with the making of the film that he was willing to risk everything even if it meant draining the resources in Nazi-occupied Europe, just so the film could rival Hollywood. But it also showed how he would meet his match in the film director Herbert Selpin, the man he had originally thought would toe the party line. But the documentary also compliments with real people who would come to survive the war, where the Nazi Titanic connection came with how the ship which had doubled up as the real McCoy in the film would eventually come to have Jews marching from concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe to on board the SS Cap Arcona where it was docked at Neustadt in order to eliminate any traces of evidence of the Nazi atrocitiesÂ…from the bombardment of the British's Royal Air Force at a time when the Allies was closing in on Germany, along with German troops who shot anyone who tried to escape the ship.
But the documentary also pondered whether director Herbert Selpin, originally came on board to make a propaganda film based on the ill- fated cruise liner on everything that was wrong about Britain, might had already turned against the system in the filming process and based J. Bruce Ismay as a metaphor for Hitler. No matter what, the documentary does challenge the conventional image history has to tend to remember Goebbels and Hitler, through of the Nazi version of the Titanic the Nazis had originally wanted Germans to see. And it also looked into the unlikely legacy of the film as well.
But before making any judgments, it is worthwhile remembering the circumstances which led to Goebbels giving the seal of approval to the making of the film which was supposed to act as a propaganda film to stir up the anti-British sentiment among ordinary Germans, at a time after Hitler had invaded Britain in 1941. According to the documentary, it is one of the untold stories from Nazi Germany which has only come to light in recent times. German state archives have only uncovered in recent times of the extent Goebbels wanted the Nazi version of the film to rival Hollywood in terms of spectacle, and what goes into the mind of the original director who was tasked to film it in Herbert Selpin, already a well-known film director in his time who had already especially produced two propaganda films before and also a Nazi party member, as according to the personal diaries of the film's art director Fritz Maurischat.
The documentary showed the other side of Goebbels history did not often talk about, as a man who was truly a fan of film and actually appreciate it as an aesthetic form of art. It also pointed out how Goebbels has always being remembered in history as the control freak, a megalomaniac, but he is one man history has found it hard to pin down. Goebbels's personal diaries revealed the man who has a deep hatred of the Jews and the hatred was sealed after watching various Hollywood films which he was actually a big fan of even if he could not speak English, and prior to his seal of approval for the Titanic film as propaganda minister, he had already made two pictures himself - a documentary and a film. It was to be the film which did well at the box office, which convinced Goebbels and his boss and a fellow film buff Hitler that the way to transmit the messages to the public was through films, as entertainment but with hidden messages of Nazi propaganda. It came at a time when Germany used to have a thriving film industry before Hollywood took over as the leader, with the rise of Hollywood coming at a time where Hitler and the Nazis came to power, with many of the talent heading to the United States.
It would be a screenwriter who brought forward the idea to the propaganda ministry. The entire dialogue would be in German, as footages from the film in the documentary itself showed what language the cast were speaking, which also included the German actor who played the actual chairman of the White Star Line which owned the Titanic, J. Bruce Ismay. It was precisely the actual story of the Titanic and how it met its end on its maiden voyage which saw Goebbels wanted the film to be a portrayal of everything that is wrong about Nazi Germany's enemy at that time in Britain – capitalism. Selpin would be roped in to direct the film, but the famed film director wanted a re-write of the film and brought on board his long-time collaborator and screenwriter friend Walter Zerlett-Olfenius. Unbeknownst to Selpin, his friend would play a part in the director's personal downfall which almost mirrored how the film production went when it climaxed to the shooting of the sinking scene.
But as time went by in the filming which Selpin was given huge amounts of budget which would look incredible in the modern context even by Hollywood standards, the outside world was beginning to turn against Nazi Germany in World War II. Unfortunately for Hitler, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also knew a thing or two on using propaganda to drum up support among Britons. Then the Americans got involved in the war in 1942, with the might of Hollywood behind it. The documentary cited how the now-classic film 'Casablanca' was actually a propaganda film in its day to stir up anti-German sentiments.
It is quite a fascinating documentary, as it charted how Goebbels was so obsessed with the making of the film that he was willing to risk everything even if it meant draining the resources in Nazi-occupied Europe, just so the film could rival Hollywood. But it also showed how he would meet his match in the film director Herbert Selpin, the man he had originally thought would toe the party line. But the documentary also compliments with real people who would come to survive the war, where the Nazi Titanic connection came with how the ship which had doubled up as the real McCoy in the film would eventually come to have Jews marching from concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe to on board the SS Cap Arcona where it was docked at Neustadt in order to eliminate any traces of evidence of the Nazi atrocitiesÂ…from the bombardment of the British's Royal Air Force at a time when the Allies was closing in on Germany, along with German troops who shot anyone who tried to escape the ship.
But the documentary also pondered whether director Herbert Selpin, originally came on board to make a propaganda film based on the ill- fated cruise liner on everything that was wrong about Britain, might had already turned against the system in the filming process and based J. Bruce Ismay as a metaphor for Hitler. No matter what, the documentary does challenge the conventional image history has to tend to remember Goebbels and Hitler, through of the Nazi version of the Titanic the Nazis had originally wanted Germans to see. And it also looked into the unlikely legacy of the film as well.
